Planetary Science

Ingenuity is still flying on Mars. Here’s what the helicopter is up to

image of the Ingenuity helicopter flying towards the Perseverance rover with a red to purple color overlay

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter (shown in the foreground of this artist’s illustration) is now helping the Perseverance rover (background) scout driving routes and pick out areas for further study on Mars.

JPL-Caltech/NASA

By Lisa Grossman

- More than 2 years ago

The Ingenuity Mars helicopter was never supposed to last this long. NASA engineers built and tested the first self-powered aircraft to fly on another planet to answer a simple question: Could the helicopter fly at all? The goal was to take five flights in 30 Martian days or break the aircraft trying.